NEW YORK — The 16th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team opened up Ivy League action on Saturday afternoon at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center, grabbing a quick 4-0 victory over the visiting Yale Bulldogs while not dropping a single set in the match.
 
The Lions rise to 11-3 overall with their first conference win, while Yale falls to 12-7, 0-2 Ivy.
 
"It's always a little nerve-racking leading up to Ivies just because it's conference play and it's a whole different pressure," said senior Victor Pham following the match. "Getting the first win and it was pretty smooth as well without three of our usual starters was great. Everyone played great. There was great energy here, so hopefully we can use that energy over the next four weeks."
 
With the lineup a little banged up at this point in the season, Columbia used an altered lineup from what's been seen in the previous weeks.
 
Despite the lineup changes, the Lions didn't seem to miss a beat, taking the one-point advantage with a pair of doubles victories over the Bulldogs. Columbia's court-two tandem of senior Victor Pham and Rian Pandole got the ball rolling with a 6-2 win before 22nd-ranked Jack Lin/William Matheson finished the job with a 6-4 victory on the top court.
 
The momentum continued into singles, with the Lions taking the first sets on all six courts. Seniors Timothy Wang and Matheson finished nearly simultaneously to give Columbia a three-point lead before No. 38 Pham clinched the team triumph on the top singles court with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Dylan King.
 
"Bid sent us a nice, emotional e-mail yesterday saying it's his last Ivy season with us," said Pham with a smile, commenting on 37th-year head coach Bid Goswami's impending retirement. "I don't think there's extra pressure. Obviously we want to win for him, but he's such a supportive coach, as long as we compete hard the outcome doesn't really matter. We're hoping for the best, and I think we can get it, so hopefully we can end Bid's career the right way."
 
Continuing Ivy League action tomorrow, the Lions welcome in Brown at 1 p.m. ET. The Bears were defeated by Cornell, 7-0, today in Ithaca.
 
For the latest on the Columbia men's tennis, follow @ColumbiaMTennis on Twitter and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.